Monday, July 22, 2013

Recovery: A Key Founding Element in Alcoholics Anonymous

If ever there were a
word of art in Alcoholics Anonymous that has been interpreted, misinterpreted,
variously defined, butchered, and altered, that word would be “recovery.”

Several dictionaries
tell us what the word “recovery” means:

The American Heritage Dictionary
states: “A return to a normal condition.”

The Collins English Dictionary states: “the act or process of
recovering, esp. from sickness, a shock, a setback; recuperation.”

Random House Kernerman College Dictionary states: “restoration or return to any former and
better condition, esp. to health from sickness, injury, addiction.”

Place yourself in a
room full of alcoholics who are discussing “recovery.” You may very well hear
such expressions as: “I’m in recovery.” “I’m a recovered alcoholic.” “I’m a
cured alcoholic.” “I’m not a bad person trying to get good; I’m a sick person
trying to get well.” “I’m not a ‘normie.’” “I went through ‘treatment’ for
alcoholism.” “I paid my dues.” “Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic.” “Alcoholics
are medically incurable.” “I just have a daily reprieve.” “One day at a time.”
“I didn’t have a drink today.” “There is no such thing as permanent recovery
from alcoholism.”

The Fourth Edition
of Alcoholics Anonymous offers these
forms of enlightenment:

We, of Alcoholics Anonymous, are more than one hundred men and women
who have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body. To show
others precisely how we have recovered is the main purpose of this book. . . .
Many do not comprehend that the alcoholic is a very sick person. And besides,
we are sure that our way of living has its advantages for all. [p. xiii]

The only requirement for membership is an honest desire to stop
drinking. [p. xiv]

He sobered, never to drink again up to the moment of his death in 1950.
[p. xvi]

Of alcoholics who came to A.A. and really tried, 50% got sober at once
and remained that way; 25% sobered up after some relapses, . . . [p. xx]

[Dr. Silkworth] confirms what we who have suffered alcoholic torture
must believe—that the body of the alcoholic is quite as abnormal as his mind. .
. . [O]ur bodies were sickened as well. In our belief, any picture of the
alcoholic which leaves out this physical factor is incomplete. The doctor’s
theory that we have an allergy to alcohol interests us.

[Dr. Silkworth wrote:] They believe in themselves, and still more in
the Power which pulls chronic alcoholics back from the gates of death. [p.
xxvii]

. . . In nearly all cases, their ideals must
be grounded in a power greater than themselves, if they are to re-create their
lives. [p. xxiii]

. . . [T]hey pass through the well-known stages
of a spree, emerging remorseful, with a firm resolution not to drink again.
This is repeated over and over, and unless this person can experience an entire
psychic change there is very little hope of his recovery. [p. xxix]

. . . [O]nce a psychic change has occurred,
the very same person who seemed doomed, . . . suddenly finds himself easily
able to control his desire for alcohol, the only effort necessary beingthat required to follow a few simple rules.
[p. xxix]

. . . What is the solution? Perhaps I can
best answer this by relating one of my experiences. . . . [p. xxxi]

His alcoholic problem was so complex, and his
depression so great, that we felt his only hope would be through what we then
called “moral psychology.” [p. xxxi]

Now just imagine
that you are in an A.A. meeting trying to listen to, comprehend, and apply the
foregoing ideas. You are sick. You may be detoxing. You may be depressed. You
are frightened, confused, and forgetful. You may be shaking for months (I did
for five years). You are faced with a mountain of problems—sometimes called the
wreckage of the past. Do you really think you can define recovery when
everything seems hopeless; and people are reading about “recovery,”
“recovered,” “never cured,” “an allergy,” “a power greater than yourself,” “a
psychic change,” and “moral psychology.” And there is more in the section of
the Big Book which asserts that “. . . you can quickly diagnose yourself” (as
alcoholic) [p. 31]. But, as the years of my sobriety rolled on successfully, I
found I could “talk Big Book” about the alcoholic’s plight in several ways. I
could, for example, speak about concepts such as: (a) “an allergy;” (b) “an obsession
of the mind;” (c) “a progressive disease;” (d) “you can’t stop once you start;”
(e) “you can’t quit entirely even if you honestly want to;” and (f) “alcohol is
cunning, baffling, and powerful when the alcoholic wants relief.” But I
developed a simple, four-part formula I called “the three D’s and an R”: (1) Drink;
(2) Drunk; (3) Disaster; and (4) Return for More. Alcoholics tell those stories
all the time. It’s their “M.O.S.” (In the Army that stands for “Military
Occupational Specialty.”)

But how can you
recover? How can you stop? How can you refrain? How can you avert the disasters
that have filled your life? Shall you choose pharmaceuticals, psychotherapy, a
treatment program, a mental facility, a physician, a detox, a sober living
facility, an intervention, or a dude ranch which at least “promises” a
“recovery” possibly made more pleasant by a pool, a golf game, a massage,
tennis, and the like? Actually, you can pursue these and still go for the gold.

Shall you turn to
God for help as the first three AAs did when they quit drinking, asked God’s
help, started helping others, and went to any lengths to become part of a fellowship
which filled their hours, eschewed temptations, challenged their minds and
bodies, suggested life-changes, and stressed spiritual growth the way the early
Akron AAs did beginning in 1935.

The person who gets
well doesn’t really want to return for more. He was and is in a spiritual tug
of war and scarcely knows it. Especially today. But he often puts his reliance
on abstinence, on God, and on helping others; and, like Bill W., awaits the
solution and the miracle.

I did, and the
drinking problem ended for good. For me, that’s recovery.

About Me

Richard G. Burns holds a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Stanford University where he was Case Editor of the Stanford Law Review. He was a Phi Beta Kappa in his Junior Year at UC Berkeley. There he received an A.A. degree in economics with Honorable Mention. He was an Information and Education Specialist in the United States Army where he held the rank of Sgt. He attended the information-education school at Washington & Lee University. He practiced law in California from 1951 to 1986. He was president of the Corte Madera Chamber of Commerce, Corte Madera Center Merchants Council, Mill Valley Community Church, Redwoods Retirement Center, and Almonte District Improvemen Club. Also elected Director of the Almonte Sanitary District. He is a writer, historian, retired attorney, Bible student, CDAAC, and active recovered member of the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous with continuous sobriety beginning April 21, 1986.

He writes under the pen name Dick B. He has devoted 24 years to researching the history and successes of the early A.A. Christian Fellowship in Akron; and published 46 titles, more than 1450 articles, and materials on Facebook, Twitter, MauiHistorian.Blogspot.com, Alcoholics Anonymous History.com, In the Rooms, Linked-in, Tumbler, MauiHistorian.Word Press.com, Aa Historian WordPress.com, AA History with Dick B. on cyber recovery social, Dick B. YouTube Channel, Articles Base, GoArticles.com, SearchWarp, Self Growth Experts, Social network forums on International Christian Recovery Coalition Forums, Recovery Internet Fellowship, Cyber Recovery, Daily Recovery, Christian Recovery Ministries, radio, TV, and over 70 audio blogs on the history subject. He regularly conducts radio interviews of Christian Recovery Leaders and Workers on www.ChristianRecoveryRadio.com.

He is Executive Director of the International Christian Recovery Coalition and of Freedom Ranch Maui Incorporated. He is an Advisor to God's Way Ministry, a Christian Church and is also a consultant to Wyoming Pacific Oil Company. Listed in Marquis Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in America, Who's Who in Law, Who's Who in Finance, and Gale's Contemporary Authors